classic

It depends on your beliefs about climate change. You can’t really compare the horse - steam - diesel/petrol evolution to electric road vehicles as each was a huge increase in performance that sold itself. Without legislation to push it, what is the alternative - wait for sea levels to rise ?

My understanding is that EV manufacturers now go to some lengths to ensure their batteries have cobalt which is ethically sourced so I would say their (reducing) use of the stuff has improved matters.

Well if you’re ok with any mining issues as long as it isn’t for EV use I can’t really answer that, in fact I give up. There are a whole host of unethical, morally wrong things going on in the world and past conflicts, human rights issues etc that have provided oil and materials for our consumption which have all been generally ignored by anti EV people until it fitted their narrative. If anything now EV use of cobalt is declining as more lfp batteries are used. It isn’t a rational argument against use of EVs.

The fact is, that unless you cycle everywhere on a wooden bicycle and source everything you need within 10 miles of your house using a horse and cart, then you cannot use the cobalt and mining use of Earths minerals argument against EVs. Cobalt is used in oil refining and the production of oil rig drill bits, not to mention its use in jet engine turbine parts. All these videos and arguments to try and prove EV production as some kind of evil are a joke.

DPF delete - Illegal, morally wrong. Buy a petrol or buy an ev or buy a diesel with dpf and adblue.

Interesting, thanks Carlston. I withdraw my recommendation ! Luckily it will wear them out fast enough to soon need some more…. Edit: I did get a “kit” which was supply of the discs and pads, considering I was buying new discs you would think they could have put the correct sized pads in with them. Pretty sure it was this one https://ebcbrakesdirect.com/ebc-brake-pad-disc-kit-pdkr1036

I highly recommend EBC brakes. Recently got rear ones and pads for my Superb. https://www.ebcbrakes.com/part-finder/

@Graham Butcher I agree about all the tech on modern cars being a nightmare -modules, radars, sensors and cameras etc whether EV or ICE. Unfortunately I believe one of the main uses for cobalt other than in batteries is in refining oil and producing hardened drills for oil rigs…. I think as the government are pushing manufacturers to build ev vehicles they should be supporting the car repair industry with incentives to train technicians and get equipment to make it less risky for people to own used EVs as they become more available. Edit : Just to add Ive spent just over £1000 on maintenance for my Superb over the last 40k miles - 4 x oil & filters, spark plugs, rear discs and pads account for 60% of that which an equivalent EV wouldn’t have needed (and I saved £250 over dealer price by doing the discs and pads myself).

Having owned an EV and then moved back to an ICE I’ve ended up with an interesting perspective on this whole debate. I had issues with a couple of scenarios where I couldn’t find a working fast charger or had to wait ages, when I didn’t have the time, to get on one. The repair infrastructure - at least for Skoda - clearly wasn’t there, my car needed battery cell replacement under recall but the dealer couldn’t do it and would need to send it to some VW ev centre. Then the electricity prices went up but bizarrely at the time the value of my car had gone up so I sold it for more than I’d paid for it. Easily the best car I’ve ever had as it did nearly 30k miles and cost absolutely zero in maintenance costs. There’s no doubt that since then the charging infrastructure has improved - I see them all over the country. People I know keep telling me how crap EVs are and quote all the stuff about battery fires, degradation, children being forced down mines to get cobalt etc etc. I now find myself constantly disagreeing with these people, some of whom are good friends but have swallowed the whole anti ev dialogue. I’m at the point now where I actually want to get another ev just to annoy the anti ev people.

Specialist service is minor every 10k miles (oil & filter and inspection ). Major service every 40k miles ( minor plus spark plugs, air filter and pollen filter). All other add ons such as dsg ( not required on my dq200 - but that’s another story….), air con and brake fluid are obviously extra but still cheaper than dealer.

The plan includes spark plugs and air filter, but in actual fact it would only include them if they happened to be required during the plan, if that makes sense. You pay the price for the plan regardless, it states plugs and air filter included but some owners wouldn’t get them from what I can see.

As my car approaches the 3 year old mark, my dealer has unsurprisingly mentioned the Skoda All In Service Plan. There are various threads on this which I’ve read. I’m naturally sceptical of service plans and extended warranties but for £38 a month this seems reasonable. I’ve compared the cost of 2x services*, 2 x MOT and 2 years breakdown cover if I used my local VW specialist and any of the major breakdown cover suppliers and the cost is £29 per month. In effect then I’m getting 2 years extended warranty for £9/month which seems ok until I read the warranty terms and conditions, which basically exclude most things that actually go wrong and in particular this clause - “The gradual reduction in operating performance (wear and tear) due to the age and mileage of your vehicle.” My principal reason for getting this plan would be for some major failure such as the dsg, or turbo. It seems to me that clause is a get out for just about any failure. Is it just a way to keep you with them, there isn’t really any saving other than their inflated prices. Am I missing the point ? The service plan basically offers a slight discount on Skoda dealer service and MOT costs, AA recovery and the warranty. *The specialist service is better and more clearly defined than Skodas and they are a VW service centre and update the digital record etc

I’m pretty sure that if your air bag fitted car, be it petrol, diesel, ev or hydrogen was involved in an accident which deployed the airbags then the airbag control module would have recorded the speed, pedal and steering wheel inputs plus various other parameters depending on how advanced it is. The Macmaster guy is sad spinning everything against EVs all cars are going or have already gone that way.

I know it’s not much help, but I looked at complete walnut blasting kits on eBay a a couple of years ago and they were about £300.

I seem to remember the E for Electric channel revealing that he had been cancelled by VW if not some others, I can’t recall, when he wasn’t 100% favourable to their products. He subsequently seemed to become extremely disillusioned with the whole of the USA and left the country. The whole “influencer “ scene is clearly open to abuse but I guess the car magazines and newspaper articles of the pre internet age were probably appropriately biased according to how they’d been treated…

Sounds good, it will certainly stand out in that colour !

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Rr296, if you’re really unlucky a stone or similar has damaged the condenser when you were driving it on day one or two. Otherwise a fault or manufacturing defect will be covered by warranty - annoying but it happens and the fact it will then be repaired for free is one of the main reasons for buying a new car.

They have to eat their own **** and it doesn’t them any good. EGR, DPFs, regens which in my opinion are insane - how is burning extra fuel to turn soot into ash a good thing regarding reducing emissions ? If it isn’t successful it will keep trying on other journeys, washing oil off the bores and even diluting the oil with fuel. And just in case there isn’t enough to go wrong there’s the ad blue system….

I’m not that keen on suv type vehicles but it is a fact as you get older they are definitely easier to get in and out of. To keep on topic of ev the Skoda Enyaq is the most comfortable and easy to get out of car I have ever driven. I absolutely love the Superb, but they are low. Engine wise, I know many disagree, but I wouldn’t touch a euro 6 tdi from any manufacturer with a barge pole.

To be honest it’s all the tech touch screen crap and lane assist etc that I don’t like on new cars. I got a 2022 Superb 1.5 se estate last year (also well over 6ft myself!) specifically to get the newest low mileage car I could afford with the minimum driver aid equipment. My intention is to keep it long term.

Come on Graham, I just used the fact I know 2 people who have purchased brand new petrol engined Fabias this year to illustrate such powered vehicles can still be bought. If they wanted bigger they could have bought Octavia’s or another larger model with petrol or diesel engines.

I haven’t personally tried to buy a new car recently. But Skoda wise, 2 of my friends have bought new Fabia 1.0 petrols in last 3 months. Toyota have been hybrid based for well over a decade and well ahead of any European legislation.

I think as long as the central fleet of cars and vans, excluding the PMs Range Rover, (which I guess is armoured and needs the potential to go a long way for a long time very fast) is electrified by 2027 as the government stated it will be then this isn’t yet a story. There isn’t really any pressure yet on Joe Public to buy an EV, it’s coming in 2030 but currently you buy whatever you like. In fact, the over £40k tax thing is making many EVs undesirable. Presumably government fleets are planned over periods of years and it would be wasteful to change them early, we also don’t know what agreements are in place on the current fleets or when they were agreed. Also I guess they will have to install their own chargers between now and 2027.

Yes, it’s a long time since I did wheel alignments (pre steering angle sensors !). But it seems it is a part of the process to recalibrate it. You did do this but not as part of the alignment when the equipment was on and the wheels all in the exact positions. You wouldn’t need to be far out for the computer to now think the steering wheel is straight when it’s actually a degree off to one side. Maybe that causes it to apply some force to the electric power steering or effects the electric diff system, I’m guessing here but they are extremely complex systems.